Redemption
by Banshae
Summary: Talyn's crew visits a commerce planet after Talyn John's death in Infinite Possibilites: Icarus Abides. This time it's Aeryn who gets into trouble.
1. Redemption: Part 1

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him.   


Redemption: Part 1

"They actually have the mivonks to call this rock a commerce planet?" Rygel groused. He, Stark and Aeryn stood at the entrance to the market square, where they hoped to find some much needed supplies. Weatherworn buildings made up four sides of the square, while numerous tents selling consumables and native goods took up the center. Rygel moved his throne sled into the market, still grumbling, "If this the extent of the off-world trade here, we'll be lucky to find speelik pods!"

Aeryn said nothing, her eyes tracking the movements of the smoothly furred bipedal natives. She didn't know what they were called, and at this point, she didn't care. She didn't care whether they found fresh food, or whether they found the couplers they needed. There were a lot of things she didn't care about any more. 

She'd only come down to the planet because the others had harangued her into it, Crais saying "The Hynerian and Stark can't be sent to the planet alone, you know that. And I cannot go. Someone must stay with Talyn." He'd fixed her with his dark eyes and mercifully left unsaid what she knew he was thinking: If John were still alive...

With effort, Aeryn focused her thoughts on the here and now: she was supposed to be watching the others' backs, even if she cared nothing for her own hide. Stark was ahead, walking slightly behind Rygel as the Hynerian grumbled and perused the displays in the shop windows. They'd arrived on the planet near dusk; now it was getting dark. The air was thick with water condensing into vapor, making it even more difficult to see. 

Aeryn followed behind the others, still silent. It took too much effort to speak to them. It took too much effort to think. She felt as though she was moving in a thick fog all the time, but she didn't care. 

Deeply ingrained training gave her the appearance of alertness, even though her mind was a thousand metras away. She didn't have the energy to be appalled at her lack of caution. It just didn't seem important anymore. Nothing did. 

Rygel stopped abruptly, peering into a shop window, "They might have the couplers we need. Stay here, I'll go in and negotiate-"

"Shouldn't we stay together?" Stark glanced over his shoulder at the crowded square and then back at Aeryn as if he expected her to agree. 

"Doesn't matter." 

Stark looked from her to Rygel, then laid a hand on her arm, "I'll go with the little one. You stay here?" Aeryn looked down at his hand and then back up at him. The pity in his eye suddenly repulsed her and she shook off his touch wordlessly. He seemed to take this as assent on her part and nodded once before following Rygel into the shop. 

The natives steered a wide berth around her as she stood outside the door. One or two risked a glance at her and quickly looked away, unwilling to meet her vacant gaze. Aeryn was oblivious to their discomfort. She had her own pain to carry. The place at her side felt _empty_. Grief twisted in her chest so sharply that for a moment she couldn't breathe. 

_John_ How many times had they been down to commerce planets together? His unflagging enthusiasm for the new and different his wonder at all the things she'd taken for granted. For her, born and raised in the closed confines of space-going vessels, the openess of sky overhead was always a distraction, the feel of dirt and grit on her skin a constant discomfort. But John would chatter nonstop about the shape of clouds and the diferences between whatever planet he was on and his beloved Earp. John had loved going planetside as much as she'd disliked it...

With an almost physical effort, she pushed the memories into a corner of her mind and slammed the door. Now was not the time. 

"Officer Sun?" Crais' voice over her comms.

"Yes?"

"What is your status?"

Aeryn glanced into the shop. Rygel was haggling over something with the large, yellow-furred shopkeeper as Stark looked over a piece of equipment. "We may have found the needed items. An arn or two more and we will leave for Talyn."

"Excellent. Contact again in an arn?" Crais asked.

"Affirmative." Aeryn faced the street again. It had gotten even darker in the few hundred microts she'd been standing outside the shop. A lamp flickered on across the square, too far away to really alleviate the gloom. 

More natives moved through the vapor, intent on their errands. One of them brushed against her and bounced off, bowing, "A thousand apologies, gentle-being." 

Aeryn nodded absently and a moment later the native was gone in the swirl of the crowd. Rygel and Stark emerged from the shop, Stark carrying a bag.

"We got one coupler, thanks to my superior bargaining," Rygel said smugly. He pointed his throne sled towards another shop, this one displaying fresh consumables. 

"Greens! Greens!" Stark was already halfway across the square, mumbling to himself. 

"Is there anything you want, Aeryn?" Rygel asked. He risked a sideways glance at her when she stayed silent. "Aeryn?" A shake of the head, but her face remained blank, not even evidencing surprise at his uncharacteristic offer. 

Rygel sighed inwardly. Much as he hated to admit it, he was worried about her. John's death had affected them all, but Aeryn had withdrawn into herself in a way that made even Rygel anxious. 

It was if she was completely numb. The only passion she'd shown was in insisting that they bury John in space: 'If he can't go home, at least he can be at peace among the stars.' And her eyes had burned with pain. After the short ceremony, Aeryn had gone to her quarters and stayed there. She came out for her shifts on Talyn's command, but other than that she avoided them all. 

Rygel had had to do some cajoling to get her to come down to the commerce planet. He didn't know if it she'd just gotten tired of listening to him, or whether she knew no one else could go, but eventually she'd agreed to join them.

He risked another glance. Well, it didn't look like this was going to make things any better. _Yotz_.

"I'll wait here." Aeryn stopped outside the door of the shop, taking up the same stance as before. Rygel disappeared inside and shortly she heard his distinct voice raised in haggling. 

It was full dark now, and the streets were thick with natives wearing pale cloaks and not much else over their short, dense fur. With the heavier foot traffic, Aeryn was not surprised when another native bumped into her and performed the same bow and apology as its earlier compatriot. 

A moment later, she felt a tug on her left hand. Before she could draw her pulse pistol, her eyes made out a child-sized shape. Relaxing fractionally, she pulled her hand free. 

The child had a high, fluting voice, "Please, gentle-being, have you seen my mamma?"

Aeryn shook her head and gestured vaguely at the crowd. The small native gazed up at her with unsettling green eyes, "Please, I need my mamma!"

"I do not know where your 'mamma' is." Aeryn realized how she sounded when the child recoiled from her, but she didn't change the tone of her voice. "One of these others can surely help you."

"But." The child's chin began to tremble in the universal precursor to tears.

_Hey Sunshine, she's just a kid! _

The voice in her head was so real that Aeryn found herself squatting down to eye level with the little native. "What's your name?"

The green eyes were set in a heart shaped face covered with short, smooth dark fur. Pointed years set high on the child's head and its shortened nose gave it a vaguely ursine look. "I'm Arragalli. What's your name?"

"Aeryn."

"Are you a P-Peacekeeper?" Arragalli asked, one paw-hand going to her mouth anxiously. 

Aeryn felt a pinprick of apprehension under the pervasive numbness. _PK forces this far in the Territories?_ Shaking her head at the little one, she said, "No, I'm just a Sebacean."

"Oh." Arragalli glanced down at the pulse pistol doubtfully. 

"Where did you see your mamma last?" Aeryn said, hoping to forestall more questions. 

The child pointed to a shop several doors down. "She was over there and now I can't find her."

"Come with me," Aeryn took Arragalli's paw-hand and set off. 

A few microts later and they were in front of the shop the child had pointed out. The lights were off in the display window, and the nearest overhead lamp looked like it had burned out, making this area much darker than the rest of the square. 

"Are you sure this is the shop?" Aeryn asked Arragalli. The whole corner looked closed and the traffic pattern took almost none of the natives down this far. 

"I'm sorry-" in the gloom, the child's eyes glowed strangely. 

Aeryn felt a tickle of warning instinct, then something bit her on the side of the neck. Flinching, she shoved Arragalli away and dropped to the ground in a defensive crouch with her pulse pistol in her hands. "Go!" She hissed to the child. Sidling along the wall, she cast about for cover and felt her neck for a wound at the same time. 

Something came away in her hand and she looked dumbly down at it. _Frelling frell. A frelling tranq! _Even as she identified the tranquilizer dart, she could feel its affects: her reflexes felt dulled and her vision was narrowing. 

The movement of air on her left drew her attention and she swung the pulse pistol that way, palming her comms with one hand. "Crais! I've been hit with a frelling tranq! Lock my signal and get Rygel and Stark into the transport!"

"Officer Sun?!" Crais' voice sounded tinny-or was the drug affecting her hearing already? "Locking your signal-"

Something struck Aeryn from the right with enough force to knock the wind out of her. The pulse pistol fell from her suddenly nerveless grip. She tried to reach for the blade kept in her boot, but the drug was affecting her in earnest and her body would not obey her mind's commands. 

A dark shape coalesced out of the vaporous air over her. Through sheer will, Aeryn forced her legs to kick out. There was a satisfying grunt as she connected, then a flash as her head was knocked painfully against the ground. "Stupid trelk," a voice hissed. "More of that and I'll just kill you here." 

Aeryn felt herself picked up and thrown into some kind of vehicle. Rough hands searched her, "Get rid of this-" Her comms was pulled from her vest and passed from one hand to another, to disappear beyond her field of vision. 

She could no longer move or speak. The vehicle lurched into motion.

One of the dark forms bent over her again, sneering, "A pretty catch indeed!"

Then the world faded. 

  
************************

  
"What the frell do you mean, you can't find her?!" Crais demanded. 

"We've looked everywhere-" Rygel's voice was sharp with equal parts anger and fear. 

Bialar closed his eyes, willing himself under control. Talyn was already anxious enough- no need to add his own emotional turmoil to the Leviathan's. "Talyn says her signal is right there," he ground out. 

"Wait-" Stark's voice now, sounding strangely calm. "I've found her comms."

The three of them were silent for a long moment, none of them willing to state the obvious: Aeryn was a fully trained Special Commando, and if someone or something had gotten close enough to drug her, then remove the comms, she was in some deep dren. 

Bialar spoke first, "Stark, get your eema into the transport and get back up here. You'll stay with Talyn. Rygel and I will continue to search for Officer Sun." The Bannik murmured his assent and broke contact. 

Heading for the docking bay, Bialar dealt with Talyn, "We will find Aeryn, but we will need your help. Stay calm. The native population does not have any offensive firepower. Stark will stay with you, and I will be in contact with you at all times." 

The Leviathan sent a burst of emotions: fear for Aeryn, dislike at being left alone, anger at whomever or whatever had attacked Aeryn. 

"We _will_ find her, Talyn," Bialar said. 

He wondered who he was trying to comfort more: himself or the Leviathan.   


TBC...


	2. Redemption: Part 2

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Icarus Abides. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. 

Redemption: Part 2

Sensation came back first: 

Throbbing at the base of her skull. 

Matching pain on the side of her head. 

She couldn't feel her hands and feet yet, but her back felt twisted at an unnatural angle

_Why is it so cold?_

The light lanced her eyes painfully and she hissed, pressing them shut and slitting them carefully the second time.

White walls. No windows. One door. A soft humming from somewhere beyond the walls. 

She discovered a microt later why she was so cold: they'd taken her clothes, and when she tried to sit up, she realized her hands were secured tightly behind her back. Shivering, she managed to leverage herself into a sitting position. _Where am I?_

A sudden wave of nausea washed over her, giving her only a moment's notice before her stomach emptied its meager contents. Afterward, she sat still for a long time, panting weakly. Her limbs felt too loose, her head felt disconnected as though it was going to float right off her shoulders; whatever they'd used to drug her, she was still feeling the effects.

Gritting her teeth, Aeryn was able to coordinate her limbs enough to slide herself up the wall into a standing position. Weak-kneed and lightheaded, she forced herself across the small room to the door. A brief examination left her exhausted and with the conclusion that she was trapped. Even if her hands were free, there was no way to open the door.

She'd just have to wait till someone opened it. 

Retreating to the opposite side of the room, she sat back down. Her legs felt like she'd run ten metras in full combat armor. Her head was throbbing so hard she could barely hold a thought. She closed her eyes again and began to breathe deeply in the mind-clearing pattern that Zhaan had once taught her. Maybe she could dilute the effects of the drug if she concentrated

She'd only been meditating for a little while before a voice startled her to awareness, "Well, well, looks like our pretty little sladkee is awake." 

There was a creature in the doorway she didn't recognize. It obviously wasn't a native of this planet, though it was also bipedal. Instead of being covered in fur, its smooth, dark skin had an iridescent sheen. Massive legs supported a torso sheathed with muscle, and its arms were overly long, ending in hands with fingers resembling talons. The face looked distinctly reptilian, with a snubbed snout and slit-pupiled, yellow eyes set on a slant. 

Aeryn stared at the creature as it stepped forward into the room. She became acutely aware she was naked, weaponless, half-drugged, and facing a being twice her size. _It's never frelling easy, is it?_

She cursed inwardly again when two smaller humaniods entered the room, flanking the first. They resembled Sebeceans, but their skin was deeply bronzed and their hair was pure white. To her eyes, they looked like twins with identical brown leathers and thick metal necklaces around their necks.

"Welcome to our humble home, sladkee," the first creature hissed, moving close and crowding her against the wall. 

"What do you want?" Aeryn snapped. She eyed the three of them, waiting for her chance, however slim, to get to the door.

"I've got what I want," a taloned hand reached out and tapped her chest. "You should fetch a high price. Sebeceans are rare in this part of the Uncharteds and I have many buyers looking for such a versatile item."

Aeryn listened with a mixture of horror and disgust. "Frell you!" She snarled, launching herself away from the wall and striking the creature with her shoulder. Taken off guard, it stumbled sideways and she squeezed past it toward the door. 

Twin One threw a punch at her head; she ducked, kicking out with her left foot. He went down with a grunt. 

Aeryn twisted away from Twin Two, who had produced a short black baton. He swung it viciously at her, and her drug-befuddled reflexes weren't fast enough this time. It connected with her right hip, instantly numbing her leg down to the foot. 

She stumbled, and the baton hit her again, driving her into the side of the door. She got a glimpse of the hall beyond, a long expanse lit by overhead lights and punctuated by more doors in a regular pattern, before one of her opponents grabbed her bound wrists and threw her back into the center of the room. She landed heavily and lay there, stunned.

"Naughty, naughty," the big creature squatted over her. Its lips split into a travesty of a smile, showing a double row of sharp teeth as long has her thumb, "Not just a Sebecean, then. A Peacekeeper!"

"Should we dispose of her, Kelhvek?" One of the twins asked.

Kelhvek wheezed laughter, "Of course not. Imagine the price for a Peacekeeper sladkee such as this! No, she only needs the proper training." He grasped Aeryn's hands and stood, hauling her up so she was forced to stand or have her arms wrenched from their sockets. 

She tried to keep her footing despite the numbed leg, anger and fear burning in her stomach. "You can't keep me here-" she spat, "-my company will be looking for me."

The yellow eyes held only amusement, "I think not, pretty one. K'shen and K'tren saw you with a Hynerian and a Bannik, not a company of Peacekeepers. And there is no PK presence in this system." Kelhvek leaned close, fetid breath hot on Aeryn's face, "I think it more likely that you will not be missed." He gave her arms a sharp upward yank, stopping short of actually dislocating her shoulders and only releasing her when she cried out. She sagged to her knees, eyes watering with pain. 

Stepping back, he motioned to the twins, "Collar her."

Before Aeryn could move, one of them- the one she'd kicked- struck her across the face, knocking her to the ground again. She saw the other twin coming at her with a device similar to a Peacekeeper control collar. Knowing she was frelled if they managed to get it around her neck, she reared up and bit him when he leaned close. In a moment they were both on her and she fought with everything she had left, kicking and thrashing.

It wasn't enough. They managed to pin her down after a brief struggle, fastening the collar tightly around her neck. As soon as the clasp closed, they let her go and Kelhvek approached. He squatted over her again and tenderly smoothed the hair away from her bloodied cheek. "Now. You have your collar. There will be no more violence from you. Such acts only damage your value, and we can't have that, can we?"

Aeryn lifted her head enough to spit at him and the creature gave a bark of laughter, "You have spirit-" he stood "-but you must learn to obey."

Kelhvek raised a taloned hand at her. Aeryn had seen control collars used on prisoners before and knew how effective they were. Now she learned why. All coherent thought fled as a flare of agony shot down her spine and pain sizzled along every nerve as though she'd touched a high voltage wire. She convulsed, back arching and twisting against the heat searing through her body. Through the roaring in her ears she heard a high keening and realized it was the sound of her own screaming. 

Then the pain was gone as instantly as it'd come and she was left limp and panting, her body buzzing with reaction and slicked with sweat. Kelhvek grinned down at her, "So, you learn the first lesson of the collar. Disobey and be punished." He turned to the twins, "Do not damage her too much, is that understood?"

"By your command, sire," they said in unison, identical smirks oozing across their faces as they stepped forward. 

Aeryn closed her eyes against their approach, hearing them sneer in turn:

"Lesson two, sladkee: spread-" 

"-and submit." 

  


TBC.... 


	3. Redemption: Part 3

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. 

Redemption: Part 3

Settling back into the cushions of the plush booth, Bialar scanned the other occupants of the Drist Vawn. It was an upscale establishment compared to the others he'd visited; the customers were mostly well-to-do freighter captains and merchantmen, with the occasional civilized smuggler thrown in. The help was properly respectful of privacy, and the presence of two large A'Tesh mercenaries at the door ensured that only those with the correct connections were allowed to do their business here. 

He had ended up at the Drist Vawn after four days of carefully asked questions and information gathering. Rygel had also been haunting the market, and for once the Hynerian willingly cooperated by sharing what he'd learned. After comparing information, they'd reluctantly concluded that Aeryn had been taken by flesh peddlers or slave traders. 

Acting on that assumpation, Bialar adopted the persona of a wealthy trader looking for a bodymate. Flashing credits and the right attitude, he'd given the barkeep at the Drist Vawn his requirements. The keep had assured him, "Rissiin has what you be looking for, gentle-being."

Bialar wasn't so sure. He'd been sitting here, waiting for "Rissiin" to appear, for three arns already. Three more arns to add to the sixty-four Aeryn had been missing. Every passing microt lessened their chances of finding her, but he couldn't afford to make the wrong move now: he had to remain patient. 

He believed Aeryn had the training and will to cope with whatever situation she was in. If she was being kept by slavers, they would not risk losing a profit by killing her. And as long as she was alive, Bialar would not give up hope of finding her. 

He was driven not only by his ingrained Peacekeeper's concern for a lost comrade, but also the sense he'd failed her as a friend. Hoping it would snap her from her benumbed state, he'd asked her to go to the planet even though he knew how emotionally fragile she was. It was his mistake of judgment that put her in danger, and he felt deeply responsible for her abduction. 

John's death had wounded Aeryn in a way Bialar fully understood: his own brother's death had driven him mad with grief and rage. As a Peacekeeper, he had no other outlet for his pain but obsession and revenge. He had only begun healing from the madness when he bonded with Talyn and felt the Leviathan's unconditional acceptance, so like the love he'd felt for Tauvo. But Aeryn had no such bond to offer her respite from her emotional pain. 

He should have known from his own experience that simply giving her something to do would not make her forget her grief. He'd acted like a typical Peacekeeper: ignore your emotions and get on with the job. _Keep moving, keep fighting, keep killing and you won't feel the void within. Frell. Neither of us are typical Peacekeepers any more. I should have known better._

Restraining himself from approaching the barkeep again, Bialar took another sip of the native liquor. Eventually, a shape rose from the shadows of a booth across the room and approached. _Most likely been sitting there for arns already, watching me_, he thought as the native approached.

"Greetings, gentle-being. I be Rissiin. You be Cra'is?"

"I am." Bialar motioned for the other to sit, and activated the soundshield around the booth. He looked Rissiin over coolly, "You know what I'm looking for?"

The native smiled, "What you be wanting, sir Cra'is, it be expensive."

Bialar dropped two dret-credits on the table, "Give me the right answer and this is yours."

Rissiin's eyes shifted to the credits. He made his living brokering information to those who would pay for it, and the amount Cra'is had put down was not especially large. For a moment he considered asking for more, but a glance at Cra'is' face cautioned him against it. The off-worlder was watching him with deadly interest--better to take the credits and give him what he wanted. The amount would still make a tidy profit.

"I have been a long time in the Uncharteds," Bialar said pointedly.

The native gave him a sympathetic look, "You be asking after 'entertainment', yes?" 

"I'm tired of theexotic. I'm looking for one of my own kind for such 'entertainment'," Bialar smirked. _I have credits to spend and I'm choosey. Point me to the right trelk-house you fool._

Rissiin drew a breath through his teeth and put a paw-like hand up to scratch at his chin, thinking. "Sir Cra'is, I be not knowing of any females meeting your requirements in the local pleasure houses-" he held up a hand to forestall Bialar's displeasure, "-however, I be suggesting you be trying with Saar Kelhvek."

"And where would I contact this Saar?"

"Sir, that be a small problem. The Saar be owner of a freighter ship. He be putting her into orbit round each planet in this system for two, three weekens and then off he be to another planet." Rissiin grinned, "He say it be keeping the clients guessing."

"Where would his ship be now?" Bialar kept his voice neutral even as his mind was turning over the information. A ship would be easier to overtake with their limited numbers. If they were very lucky, this Kelhvek would be as cowardly as the rest of his kind and capitulate by handing Aeryn over once they threatened him with Talyn's superior firepower.

"Oh, that be easy, sir Cra'is! I be giving you the right coordinates and you be meeting Saar Kelhvek quick enough. Then you be happy, yes?" Rissiin reached into his cloak and produced a small datacube which he handed across the table.

Bialar took it and pushed the dret-credits to Rissiin. They disappeared neatly into his cloak as he stood, "Pleasant to be doing commerce with you, sir Cra'is. You be coming back to Drist Vawn soon, yes?" He bowed and faded into the darkness beyond the soundshield. 

Putting the datacube into a pocket, Bialar forced himself to finish the drink. It wouldn't do to look too eager. Eventually he felt it was safe to settle his account and leave the bar. He headed toward the transport, moving quickly through the crowded streets and watching carefully for unwanted followers. 

Either the scowl on his face or the casually worn pulse rifle discouraged trouble, because he arrived at the transport without incident. As he began pre-flight checks and powered up the engines, he contacted Talyn mentally and was reassured that all was well: Rygel and Stark were aboard, and the required repairs had been accomplished. 

Bialar commed the others as he guided the transport out of the atmosphere and toward Talyn, "Stark, Rygel, I have the information we needed. We shall be leaving the planet as soon as I dock--" he broke off as Talyn suddenly flooded their bond with images and emotions. For a microt, he couldn't understand what the Leviathan was trying to tell him, then it all came together: 

_Moya comes!_

_********_

"Three months, two weeks, five days" John murmured.

"What'd you say, old man?" Chiana glanced away from the image of Talyn on the screen.

John shook his head, realizing he was thinking out loud. "Nothing, Pip. I just figured out how long it's been since we've seen them."

"Three and a half monens, give or take a couple of days," D'Argo said, putting a hand on John's shoulder, "Steady, friend."

"Damn, is it that obvious?" 

"Yes!" Jool and Chiana replied simultaneously. 

"Thanks ladiesyou're making me feel so much better," John shrugged off D'Argo's hand and moved closer to the screen. His emotions were in such turmoil, he didn't know whether to throw up or dance a jig. It had been a long time since he'd seen Aeryn and now she was backbut so was the Other. _Christ, something like this could only happen to me! No one else in this damn universe could get cloned and then have their clone steal the woman they love._

He was intensely jealous ofwhatever had gone on between the Other and Aeryn, but at the same time he wanted to see her so badly it hurt. The twelve arns since they'd discovered Tayln's whereabouts felt like a year. 

"Pilot, are we close enough to get a signal through without worrying about nosy listeners?" Chiana asked. 

"That will be the case in twenty microts." Pilot replied. They all fell silent, watching as Talyn approached. 

John counted under his breath and as soon as he hit twenty, called out, "Pilot, can you open a channel?"

"Of course, Commander Crichton." The screen flickered and then showed Crais, alone on Talyn's command. 

"Hey, big boy, howya doin?" John could feel a huge grin splitting across his face, which faded when Crais remained the solitary image on the screen. "UhNo offense Crais, happy to see you and all, but where's Aeryn?" John asked. 

"And everyone else?" Chiana put in. 

"I suggest you answer quickly, Crais," D'Argo snarled.

"Some things haveAs I'm sure they have aboard Moya-"

Suddenly, John didn't like the look in Crais' eyes. It was a look with "bad news" written all over it. "Cut the crap, where the hell is Aeryn?"

"That is what I am trying to tell you, Crichton," Crais looked away briefly and in that moment a hundred scenarios ran through John's head-all of involving Aeryn and the Other, and all of them bad. Then the ex-Peacekeeper spoke, "There is more to it, and I will take a transport to Moya to speak to you all in person-"

_Omigawd she's gone off to some planet with Him to have kids-they ran into trouble somewhere and they're both dead-Aeryn's dead-Aeryn's pregnant-She and Crais-- _

"-but this you must know: Aeryn has been abducted."

_I think I'm going to be sick._ John thought weakly.

TBC...  



	4. Redemption: Part 4

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. 

Redemption: Part 4

Chiana knew everything was _really _frelled up when Rygel didn't have a second plate of r'asa pods. She looked around the table and sighed softly. No one had eaten much of the meal she prepared. Not that she blamed them. She didn't have much appetite herself, after hearing Crais' recital of all that had happened aboard Talyn in the past three monens. 

_So weird_she thought in the silence that fell after Crais finished. _Just when I'm getting used to the concept of two identical Johns, one of them has to up and die_.

Once or twice over the past monens, she'd wondered if "her John" was the really the clone. His behavior was more erratic than usual-even for a Human. Probably due to the fact that her John knew the Other John was off with Aerynand the gods only knew what they were up to. _The same thing my John would be doing if he had been with her. No wonder he was acting so crazy!_

The whole time Crais was talking, John didn't interrupt once with a question. Instead he just sat there, staring at the ex-Peacekeeper with varying expressions of shock, sadness and disbelief on his face. To Chiana's ears, there was some stuff Crais was leaving out, but it wasn't hard to fill in the blanks. No way Aeryn would have shared quarters with Other John unless something was going on between them. 

Chiana glanced over at her John, who was sitting utterly still, cradling his head in his hands. She couldn't see his face, but his shoulders were slumped in way that made her chest hurt. He looked like a man who had just lost the last thing he cared about and Chiana put a hand on his back in wordless comfort. 

Crais leaned forward and broke the silence, "John, I am sorry."

"Sorry?" D'Argo growled. "You have the nerve to come aboard Moya after all you have done-"

"I've done nothing wrong here, Luxan," Crais snapped, turning to him. 

"D'Argo-" Jool tried to interject, but D'Argo cut her off.

"You've done nothing wrong but lose the other Crichton and Aeryn!"

"I had no control over what happened on that planet. John knew exactly what he was doing when he dealt with Furlow and the Ancients."

"And what about Aeryn? What kind of fool are you to send a soldier out when you know she's not ready?"

"I am not her keeper, nor am I her superior!" Crais snarled. "And that planet was supposed to be safe-"

Chiana could feel John shudder under her touch and tuned out the argument for a moment. "Hey old man, are you going to be all right?" 

"We have to find her, Chi," he said hoarsely, lifting his head. There were tears on his cheeks and without thinking, she wiped them away gently. 

"I can't give up. If Aeryn could-" John faltered for a moment, took a steadying breath and gave her a wan smile, "Hey, there's still hope for me, right?"

She didn't have an answer for him, only squeezed his hand tight and turned her attention back to the others. "Shut up the both of you!" She shouted a loudly as she could over the raised voices of Crais and D'Argo.

Both males stopped arguing and everyone stared at her.

Jool grinned, "Not bad."

Chiana gave her a quick smile, then turneed to glare at D'Argo and Crais, "This alpha male dren is not helping, guys. We need to figure out what to do to get Aeryn back."

Crais, ever the cool Peacekeeper, nodded and settled back in his chair, "You are correct. I have a plan."

"_We_ have a plan," Rygel reminded him from Chiana's side.

"What kind of plan?" Jool asked, looking suspiciously between Crais, Rygel and Stark. Obviously she didn't think any plan made up by a crazy Bannik slave, a dethroned Dominar and a deserter PK was going to be very good. 

"We know where the slavers' ship is going to be stopping next," Crais explained. "I will continue my persona of a wealthy trader looking for a bodymate, and once aboard the ship, find Aeryn."

"And then what?" Chiana asked.

"We either purchase her, or failing that, we take her by force." 

D'Argo snorted, "You planned to do this alone?"

"Yes, if it was necessary."

"Well, now you have backup," John said. His gaze met Crais' across the table, challenging and at the same time measuring. Chi tightened her grip on John's hand unconsciously, _Easy, easy. No need to act like two huzahs fighting over a bone, guys._

Crais' black eyes didn't lose their intensity, but he inclined his head almost immediately, "Of course."

"We should take Talyn to the meeting point," D'Argo said. "Stark and Rygel can stay with Talyn while Moya and Pilot monitor the situation."

"Sounds good, big D," John was regaining some of his normal zeal. The shocked look was gone, replaced by a focus Chi found alarming and at the same time reassuring. 

"What about us?" Jool asked.

"Sorry, but I don't think you or Pip would fit in as buyers on a slave ship," John said. 

"You'd surely be mistaken for the merchandise," Rygel smirked. 

"Oh, now I remember why I missed you so much, your eema-ness," Chiana stuck an elbow in his side. "It was your lovely personality."

"Enough," Crais said. "We have approximately three arns before we arrive at the coordinates given to us. I suggest we ready ourselves for this mission."

John gave the ex-Peacekeeper another measuring look, then stood, "I'm with Cap'n Crunch here. Let's get this show on the road."  


TBC...  



	5. Redemption: Part 5

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. 

Redemption: Part 5

  
_Aeryn._

Aeryn resisted the voice. She didn't want to wake up. There was something very wrong with her waking world. Much safer to stay here, where it was dark and quiet.

_Aeryn._

Except for that frelling voice. Why was it so insistent? Only John could be so annoying.

_Not John._

Of course not. John is dead. How could she forget that? He was dead and gone, and he took her life with him. 

_Aeryn, you live._

Living? This was living? This was a living death. Her soul had died with John, but her body kept breathing, her heart kept beating stubbornly. She willed herself to death every night, and every day her body betrayed her. The irony of it all: that she who was bred to die couldn't kill herself. 

_Aeryn. You must wake_. 

For frell's sake! Couldn't she get any peace at all?

_Wake...._

"She's waking." 

Aeryn opened her eyes and flinched back, "What-" Her head was pillowed on the generous lap of what she recognized as a Firion, one of the humanoid space-faring races she'd commonly encountered as a Peacekeeper. This one was obviously female, ebony skin stretched tightly over the broad bones of her face. Her pale amber hair fell in a thick curtain over her shoulders as she bent anxiously over Aeryn. 

"Be still, we won't hurt you," the Firion said, placing a restraining hand gently on Aeryn's chest as she struggled to rise. "Please, you have been injured and you need to be still."

Aeryn relaxed slightly at the sight of the control collar around the Firion's neck. "Who are you?"

"Mareet i'Liebh of the planet Firus. And you?"

"Aeryn Sun."

"Peacekeeper?" Mareet asked.

_I might as well be wearing a frelling uniform!_ Aeryn thought bitterly, but she only shook her head carefully, "Once. No more. Not for a long time." Despite her care, the movement made her head throb, and she became painfully aware of the abuse her body had recently taken. She felt bruised inside and out. 

Mareet's thickly arched brows drew together in sympathy, "Let Alaethe help you."

Another face came into view and Aeryn's eyes widened in surprise as she heard the same voice that had prodded her to wakefulness. "I am Alaethe. I will take away your pain if you allow."

"What the frell?" Aeryn croaked. She'd never seen anything like the Singer: the woman's skin, so pale it was almost translucent, glowed a pale silver and was covered with delicate whorls of darker pigment over her cheeks and neck. Her scalp was hairless but for a ruff of thick sable hair running over the crown of her head. Her eyes, lacking whites, pupils and irises, were depthless ebony pools both compelling and disturbing to look into. 

"Alaethe is a Ka'rhau," Mareet said, smiling reassuringly. "Her people call her a Singer, one of those who serve as healers of the body and spirit."

Aeryn met the Pa'rhau's disconcerting gaze again, "You're anempath?" 

Alaethe nodded, "Sworn in the service of the Bright Twins many cycles ago. I am still young as a Singer."

"Don't let her fool you," Mareet said, "She's got skills that come in very handy around here."

"May I help you?" Alaethe asked.

Warily, Aeryn gave her assent. Her skin prickled with gooseflesh as the Ka'rhau moved closer and put a hand on her forehead. Aeryn could feel some sort of energy radiating from the other woman's touch and a curious warmth spread from the crown of her head downward. Where the warmth touched, her wounds tingled and pain dulled. Alaethe was sweating lightly by the time she sat back and tucked her hands back into her robes. She said softly, "It is done." 

Mareet helped Aeryn sit up, "Better?"

"Yes." Aeryn looked around: another white walled cell, except this one had three cots, a commode and sink. The same humming she'd heard earlier came from beyond the single door. Thankfully, she was clothed in gauzy robes and no longer bound. With Mareet's help, she stood shakily. 

"Be careful. Alaethe has dulled the pain, but you are still injured."

"How did you do that?" Aeryn asked, turning to the Ka'rhau. 

"Hah, don't ask her that." Mareet towered over the two other women, large boned but perfectly proportioned so her size wasn't apparent till she stood. "Just take my word for it: you'll be glad she's your cellmate after the kraka boys have had at you."

"The twins?" Aeryn's stomach turned over at the thought of facing those two again. 

"Whatever you want to call those two misbegotten sons of trelks," Mareet spat. "Oh, to get my hands on them without this fekking collar on" She noticed that Aeryn was swaying a bit and guided her to the nearest cot, "Here, sit down before I have to pick you up off the floor again. That stuff they drugged you with is really fa'gaa."

"Are we still on the planet?" Aeryn asked dazedly. 

"I would ask you which planet you're talking about, but it doesn't really matter. Kelhvek took us all from different places," Mareet said. "We're on his ship, being taken to auction."

_Auction?_ Aeryn went cold. "We have to get out of here."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" The sarcasm in Mareet's voice was not lost on Aeryn. "You do anything out of line and you'll spend the next couple of hundred microts wishing you were dead," she fingered her control collar, wincing. 

"There has got to be a way."

"I am sorry, Aeryn," Alaethe shook her head. "I have been here a long time. Longer than Mareet. Others have tried to escape in the past, but none have left this place except by Kelhvek's pleasure." 

Aeryn had to admit they were right. The situation looked bleak: even if she were somehow able to escape this cell, she would be incapacitated by the control collar before she got very far. And how far would she get without an escape vessel? 

_Does it really matter anyhow?_ she thought harshly, _Where would I go? Not back to Talyn-I don't belong there with Crais and the others smothering me in pity. And even if I could find Moya, what then?_ The thought of seeing John again_I can't!_ Grief threatened to overwhelm her and she was horrified to feel tears slipping down her cheeks. 

"Here, don't get all soft on us," Mareet said not unkindly. "It can be quite a shock, we both know it."

Aeryn shook her head, "It's not that-" she scrubbed angrily at the tears despite the bruises on her cheeks. _I can't believe I'm crying like a frelling trasnik in front of these two!_

Alaethe moved close, "Aeryn-"

"It's nothing," Aeryn snapped, waving away the other women. "I don't need your help." Ignoring the glances they gave each other, she stretched out on her cot, back to them. She lay silently for a long time, feeling hopelessness creep up on her. She didn't really want to fight anymore. What was she fighting for anyhow? There was a great sucking wound in her chest and she didn't have the ability to close it without John. Just as she had been his center, he was hers. She could fight to leave this place, but for what? Her center was gone and without it she was cast adrift...purposeless and rudderless in a sea of grey despair. More tears burned behind her eyes and she bit her lips against a sob, knowing that if she allowed herself to start crying, she might never stop. 

_I never thought you were a quitter, sweetheart_. John's voice in her head again. _Don't give up, Aeryn, not yet. You have so much more to give._

She was getting as bad as he was, with all the traffic in her mind. But he was right again, damn human. No matter how much she hurt, she couldn't just give up and die; that wasn't how she was made. And there were others here who needed help

She took a hitching breath and once again pushed away the blackness that threatened to drown her. If she didn't know how to go forward, she would go back. She would be a Peacekeeper once again and clothe herself in the armor of _moving, fighting, doing_--until the pain in her heart was buried. She would fight and she would endure, because she had nothing to lose...and if she died...Maybe then she would find out if John was right about the afterlife. Maybe then she would see him again and be whole again. That was hope enough to go on. 

Slowly, she sat up and faced her cellmates. Their softly murmured conversation stopped and they looked at her expectantly. 

"Do you want to be sold as slaves or do you want try to free yourselves?" Aeryn asked hoarsely.

Mareet smiled slowly, "I _would_ like to get home. Or at least take out one of the boys while trying."

Alaethe met Aeryn's gaze, "I cannot kill, not even to defend myself."

"Hah! If she was ever a Peacekeeper, she won't have any problems killing someone for you, Ala!" Mareet laughed. 

Aeryn found herself smiling crookedly at the Firion, "It may not come to that." She settled herself a little more comfortably on the cot and leaned forward, "Right, then. Tell me about Kelhvek"

TBC..  



	6. Redemption: Part 6

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. 

Redemption: Part 6

"John?" 

"Yeah?" He spared a moment to look up from the bag open on his bunk. "What's up?" 

Stark was standing in the doorway, shifting his weight from one foot to the other restlessly. "I need to speak with you." For once, he sounded halfway calm, though the nervous twitching was still there. 

John gestured for him to come in, "Make it quick, we don't have much time before Crais is gonna want to head for Talyn."

He was more interested in what else he should pack than anything Stark would ramble on about. He inventoried the bag: an extra pulse rifle and change of clothes, along with a cache of chakkan oil cartridges. Of course, Crais probably had a boatload of weapons on Talyn, but a guy gets used to his own gun. Satisfied, he started to zip the bag up. 

"I have a message for you from theother John."

John froze in mid-zip. Slowly, he turned to face Stark, "What?"

"He wanted me to give this to you. He said you would understand." Stark said, holding out a holocube. "Press here-" he indicated the button that would activate the holographic message. 

"Uhthanks," John said weakly, taking the cube. He sank down on the edge of the bunk and forgot all about Stark, who had already beat a hasty retreat. 

_What the hell is this about? Like that bastard didn't take enough from me, he has to gloat about it too?_ John slowly turned the cube over in his hands, thinking. _No. He's me and I'm him. I wouldn't gloat about it. This is something else. But what?_

He knew he was stalling. There was probably something important on the holocube, but he couldn't quite bring himself to activate it. If he were truthful with himself, he was stalling because he didn't want certain questions answered. 

As soon as Crais had stepped foot on Moya, all John had wanted to do was pepper him with questions and find out what the hell had gone on during the time they were all separated. Then he saw the way Crais and Stark and even Sparky were looking at him: a bad mix of sympathy and pity with some 'ok this is weird to see you alive again' thrown in. That had shut him up pretty quick. 

And learning that the Other was deadThat was a shock, but even more painful was the knowledge that Aeryn and the Other had "grown close" as Crais had so delicately put it. It sounded like the other John had gotten everything he himself had ever wanted: the wormhole knowledge, becoming a hero. Even Aeryn. 

How could he be jealous of _himself _for God's sake? But he _was_ jealous, whether it made sense or not. Knowing that Aeryn had loved the Other hurt more than all the rejection she'd ever heaped on him. The knowledge that she'd shared happiness with someone other than himself was bittersweet. On one hand it gave him hope: Aeryn had finally broken through the walls that held her back and allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable. On the other hand, it wasn't _him_ she had shared herself with. 

Suddenly, memories of all the physical and emotional pain he'd suffered since being shot through the wormhole flashed through his mind, and he was shaking with long suppressed rage._ How much more do I have to put up with, dammit!? I get mindfucked by every damn alien who comes along, I get beat up, tortured, spit on and everyone looks at me like I'm a trained monkey! Then I fall in love with the biggest hard-assed bitch this side of the universe and she dumps me for a copy of myself who up and dies, tearing her heart out and leaving me with the clean up work! _ Roaring wordlessly with frustration and grief, he threw the holocube as hard as he could across the room; it bounced off the wall and clattered to the floor unbroken. 

"Fuck!" He strode across the room and kicked the cube, intending to destroy it, but it was made of sterner stuff and merely skittered to a stop under the worktable.

"Piece of shit!" Clearing the cluttered tabletop was too much trouble-he grabbed the edge and threw the table over, scattering unfinished projects, papers, and bits and pieces of junk everywhere. 

He made another animal sound of fury as the holocube disappeared under the debris. Searching for the cube, he shoved the table aside and kicked an unidentified piece of alien technology he'd been working on across the room, where it landed with a shattering crash. That felt so good he seized a chair and threw it out in the hallway, cursing and shouting. 

"Are you having fun, John?" Harvey asked, standing in the corner. One corner of his mouth was quirked in amusement that enraged John all the more. 

"Fuck off! If you know what's good for you, you'll get the hell out of here!" He threw another chair at Harvey, who obediently disappeared, though John's anger didn't abate. "I've had enough of being John Crichton, cosmic joke!" He shouted, stalking around the room. He destroyed anything he could get his hands on, growling and shouting his rage in turn, oblivious to everything but the agony that was his breaking heart. 

***

Chiana and D'Argo skidded to a stop ten paces from the open door of Crichton's quarters as half a shelf flew out to join the pile of broken furniture and other debris littering the corridor. 

"Is he alright?" Pilot's voice was barely audible over the sound of something else breaking. 

"I-uh-I don't know, Pilot. We'll let you know in a bit, " Chiana said, wincing as an unidentified piece of something ricocheted off a wall and bounced toward them. She glanced at D'Argo. "You first, you're bigger."

"It sounds like he's by himself," he rumbled. "Do Humans have hyper-rage?" 

Chi shot him an exasperated glance and cocked her head, listening. D'Argo was right: the only voice she heard was John's, though it was barely recognizable. There was another crash and the hall was abruptly silent. She and D'Argo exchanged looks, then crept forward, weapons at ready. 

She didn't know what to expect, but the sight that greeted them as they peered cautiously around the edges of the door shocked her. John's quarters looked like someone had fought a mortal battle there and lost. There wasn't a stick of furniture left whole. The bunk was in total disarray, sheets torn and strewn about, mattress leaning drunkenly against a wall. The worktable lay sideways, three legs broken off and the metal top dented. John's precious tech projects were in pieces. Even the few small items she knew he kept for decoration on the walls were missing or broken. 

In the middle of the destruction, John sat with his back to them. Chiana swept the room with a glance and caught D'Argo's gesture: all clear. She lowered her pulse pistol and stepped lightly over the threshold, "John?" 

When he didn't answer, she moved in a little more and realized he was holding something in his hands. Her grip tightened on her pulse pistol for a moment before she recognized the object as a holocube. _What the frell?_

"Crichton, what the hezmana is going on?" D'Argo asked, coming closer. "Pilot thought you were being attacked. You didn't answer your comms-"

Chi put a hand on D'Argo's arm, interrupting him, "John, are you all right?"

The Human gave a bark of hoarse laughter that startled her. "Yeah, Pip. I'm fine."

"Fine? What do you call all of this?" D'Argo asked incredulously. 

"I was justredecorating."

"Redecorating?" 

John sighed heavily, "Yeah. You know, moving stuff around so it looks better. RE-DÉCOR-A-TING."

Chiana exchanged looks with D'Argo and shrugged silently: another Critchonism. 

"Guys," John said without turning, "If you don't mind, I'd like a moment to myself?"

"We have less than half an arn before we leave for Talyn," D'Argo warned him. 

"Yeah big guy, I know." 

D'Argo took another look around and shook his head. Sheathing his Qualta blade, he said to Chiana, "I'll let Pilot know that everything is all rightthat Crichton was ree-dekor-a-ting." He stepped over a broken chair and into the hall, still shaking his head. 

Chiana hesitated a moment, unsure if she should leave John alone. She reached for his shoulder, "Do you-"

"Chi, don't. Please. Just go."

His voice was painfully flat and she drew her hand back as if scalded. Without saying a word, she straightened and strode to the door, heedless of the debris crunching underfoot. If he wanted to be left alone that was fine with her..But she paused for just a moment at the threshold and glanced back. 

He'd moved for the first time since they came into the room and was holding the holocube up to the light. Slowly, as if it hurt him to do so, he lifted his other hand and pressed the activation button. His shoulders heaved convulsively as his own image-_no it was the Other John_- sputtered to life from the holocube. 

Chiana knew if she stayed any longer, John would never forgive her. The last thing she heard as she turned and walked purposefully away was his (or was it the holo-image's?) voice. 

"We have to talk"

TBC....  



	7. Redemption: Part 7

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Dadelus Demands  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
_Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman., Intrepid Beta Reader. _

Redemption: Part 7

"Bring the bounty and you shall have your prize unharmed. You have the coordinates. I trust you will arrive in a timely manner? " Kelhvek smirked at the image on the viewscreen. 

The Peacekeeper captain, a strong-jawed woman with a vicious scar curving across her left cheek, fixed Kelhvek with icy blue eyes. It was bad enough dealing with a slave trader, but Kelhvek's appearance clearly disgusted her. "We must have her alive-"

"Of course, of course. I am a respectable merchant," Kelhvek interrupted, delighted at the other's discomfort. "I look forward to our meeting. Now, you must excuse me, I have other customers to attend to." Before she could answer, he cut the transmission and leaned back in his seat, smiling. 

He allowed himself a few moments to gloat over the look of distaste on the captain's face before turning to a darkened corner of the room. "Come, little one," he said, beckoning the slave forward. "What have you to say about my dealings with the Peacekeepers?"

The Ka'rhau Singer stepped out of the shadows, coming no closer than she had to, "She is not trustworthy, master-"

"Pah! I do not need you to tell me that!"

She inclined her head, continuing only when he stayed silent. "She intends to destroy you as soon as she has the Sebecean. She dislikes your treatment of her, and her orders leave room for her own 'discretion' once she has acquired her target."

"Is that all?" Kelhvek asked, glaring at her. 

"Yes, master."

He grunted and activated his comms, "K'shen, report to me immediately."

"Yes, sire." 

Kelhvek turned back to the viewscreen to ponder his next move. He was in a delicate situation. The deserter Peacekeeper female in his hold had a bounty on her head many times her worth at auction. However, he was a slave trader and there was also a PK bounty on_ his_ head that would make it difficult to collect on the female. He wasn't stupid enough to invite a crew of commandos onto his ship; instead he'd negotiated an exchange on the planet below Tesso3. A Marauder was already on its way to the coordinates; all he had to do now was put the Sebecean on a transport with K'shen and K'tren to ensure the exchange went smoothly. 

The door opened and K'shen entered, "Sire?" 

"I want the Sebecean female put in a private cell. She's not going at the auction on Tesso3. You and K'tren will leave in six arns and transport her to these coordinates," Kelhvek passed him a datacube. "A Peacekeeper Marauder crew will meet you and an exchange will take place. The Sebecean for the bounty."

K'shen nodded, "As you wish, sire." He turned to go but stopped when Kelhvek spoke again.

"They want her alive, so I suggest you drug her again. Otherwise, she seems to be more than you and your brother can handle."

K'shen's eyes narrowed, but he only nodded and bowed once before leaving the room. Kelhvek watched him go, then glanced to where Alaethe still stood. He smiled at her, "Go back to your cell and make yourself ready for the auction tomorrow, little one." 

******

Tesso3 was an ugly, patchwork space station, built by the Consortium of Trao as a trading outpost more than 75 cycles ago. It was still run by a Consortium Family, who allowed "free trade" (as it was euphemistically put) so long as they got a percentage of the profit. It was also the crossroads of licit and illicit commerce for this sector of space. 

If a captain found himself with a load of questionable cargo, he would set course for Tesso3 to dispose of it discreetly. If a merchantman wanted exotic entertainment, there was no better place for it than Tesso3. If a party felt wronged by another, Tesso3 teemed with heavily armed muscle willing to exact the appropriate revenge. Anything was possible on Tesso3, given the right amount of currency. 

Right now, Bialar was hoping it would be possible to find Aeryn and get off of Tesso3 before one of the inhabitants decided to test their small party. 

"This place is a drenhole," D'Argo said. 

"For once I agree with you, Luxan." Bialar kept his hand near the pulse pistol strapped to his thigh as they strode through the crowd. They'd arrived on the station only five arns ago and he was already sick of the stench of unwashed bodies, organic waste and overused air. Even the relatively clean bar they'd killed time in earlier had been grimy enough to make him want toshower.

Now they were headed for one of the outer sections of the station, and the further they got from the Family-run central core, the less he liked it. The hodgepodge architecture and the inhabitants shared a dreary ugliness that set his teeth on edge. He'd been on a sufficient number of rough and tumble shore leaves as a Peacekeeper to recognize the area they were currently as one step above a slum, inhabited by those who would just as soon kill you as sell you raslak. 

And the further they got from the core, the longer it would take them to get back to the transport. They'd been forced to dock in the central yard, a good half an arn's walk from their current position. He hoped Aeryn was not badly injured. It would be difficult to make it back to the transport quickly (and raise questions) if they had to carry her. 

They passed several more intersections before Crichton drew up short before a corridor, "I think this is it, guys."

"Yes, this is the one," Bialar consulted his navpad briefly. "It connects to the outer ring where the slaver's ship is docked. It should take us directly there."

"Well, let's get going." Crichton moved off, D'Argo following behind. Bialar glanced one last time at the crowd, feeling prying eyes on his back, and then ducked into the corridor as well.

  
********

Aeryn sprawled in the seat, only the safety harness keeping her from sliding bonelessly to the floor. The now-familiar drug haze was wearing off enough for her to piece together her surroundings. She was obviously in the passenger compartment of a shuttle in flight. From the way the shuttle bucked and yawed, it seemed they were flying in some rather turbulent planetary atmosphere. She could hear the voices of Kelhvek's lackeys, raised in what sounded like argument, drifting from the cockpit. Her hands were cuffed together, but she no longer wore the control collar. Looking down she realized that someone had also dressed her in her old black leathers. 

She wondered how long she'd been unconcious this time. It didn't feel like more than a couple of arns, maybe three, since the twins had awakened her in the middle of the sleep cycle and taken her from the cell. She hadn't made it easy for them, and the memory of landing a solid, lip-splitting punch on the one called K'shen made her half-smile unconsciously.

Suddenly, she was thrown against the harness as the shuttle listed Hammond side, engines whining against atmosphere. A sharp, grating pain in her chest made her stifle a gasp as she sat up. It felt like she'd broken at least one rib fighting with the twins. Luckily that seemed to be the most pressing of her injuries. 

The cockpit door in front of her unexpectedly flew open with a bang. "Awake already, sladkee? Well, no matter, we're almost to the coordinates and we'll be rid of you soon enough." The smirk on K'tren's face was ruined by a rapidly darkening black eye. 

"Looks like you need some medical attention," Aeryn rasped out a laugh against the pain in her side. "And your friend in there needs some flying lessons."

K'tren started forward, but the shuttle lurched again, throwing him into the cargo net behind the cockpit door. He found his footing with a string of curses the translator microbes failed to interpret. "You frelling bitch," he snarled, grabbing her around the throat. "I hope your Peacekeeper comrades kill you slowly and painfully. You deserve the death of a deserter."

The shuttle lurched a third time and K'shen called angrily from the cockpit, "K'tren, get in here!" 

Aeryn could hear the blood roaring in her ears as his hand tightened around her neck. His pale eyes were fixed on hers with glee. 

"K'tren!" 

He released her with a curse and swung back toward the cockpit. "Do you need me to fly this fekking shuttle, frellface?"

"Shut your hole and frelling navigate for me, you worthless siljop!" 

Aeryn swallowed thickly, watching K'tren go. Her breath rasped painfully in her bruised throat and the pain in her side was intensifying by the microt, but her mind was focused only on what he'd said: 'I hope your Peacekeeper comrades kill you slowly and painfully. You deserve the death of a deserter.'

The rest of the shuttle ride was a blur for her. The twins cursed and argued and somehow managed pilot the shuttle enough to set down to the planet without crashing. 

"The Marauder is already here." K'shen said from the cockpit. "Get her out there."

K'tren appeared in the passenger compartment. "Your friends seem eager to greet you," he leered, unbuckling Aeryn's safety harness. Producing a pulse pistol, he gestured for her to precede him.

Aeryn moved stiffly to the door. K'tren prodded her with the pistol, "Move faster." Turning back to his partner, he snapped, "K'shen, hurry the fek up, I don't want to spend all frelling day here."

She heard the engines power down and then K'shen came out of the cockpit holding his own pulse pistol. She knew she should fight them, refuse to move, try to take a weapon, _something_. But her mind seemed frozen as they herded her to the door. After all she'd been through- all she'd gained and all she'd lost, she couldn't believe it was coming to this. There were a thousand other ways to die in the Uncharted Territories and being returned to the Peacekeepers was something she'd long ago stopped worrying about. It had just seemed to be too remote of a possibility. 

She would be executed, of course. She had been under a death sentence from the day Crais had declared her irreversibly contaminated. The last three and half cycles of stolen time suddenly didn't seem like enough. It felt like there was so much left for her to do...and now she was running out of time.

The shuttle door opened. She was momentarily blinded by daylight and stumbled down the ramp with her eyes tearing. They had landed in a grassy plain that stretched for metras in every direction. There didn't seem to be a mountain or tree as far as she could see, only knee high blue-green grass rolling in the wind like a softly hissing ocean.

Two Peacekeeper commandos were standing in the shade of the Marauder to her right, watching them exit the shuttle. One was a blonde woman, slightly built. The other was taller, a man with a thick braid of snowy white hair. They held their pulse rifles casually pointed at the approaching group.

"Hold," the man said as they came closer. 

Aeryn stopped, eyeing him. He seemed oddly familiar to her. And something about the female commando looked strange, tooHer train of thought was broken when K'tren shoved her from behind.

"Here's the trelk, where's the bounty?"

The commando held Aeryn's gaze steadily, "Name and rank!" He snapped, ignoring K'tren.

She answered the command in his voice without thinking, "Officer Aeryn Sun, Special Commando."

The man's gaze flicked to the two standing behind her, "How can we be sure?"

Aeryn felt rather than saw K'tren shrug, "Take her and give us the bounty. That was the deal. There wasn't anything about checking her identity."

The commando said nothing. He looked back at Aeryn and something passed across his features so quickly that she wasn't even sure she saw it. Her spine straightened unconsciously, her shoulders went back and her chin lifted. She wouldn't show weakness now. In a moment she was standing at attention despite the bruises and cuts, despite the cuffed hands and broken ribs. 

"Look, if you don't want her, we'll take care of her right now," K'tren snarled. He pressed the pulse pistol to Aeryn's temple. 

The commandos raised their weapons.

Aeryn closed her eyes briefly. _Die now or let them kill you. It's all the same._

She tore herself from K'tren's grip and ran straight out into the ocean of grass.

Weapons fired around her. Searing heat bit into her right shoulder and she fell, rolling to take the impact, crying out when her ribs ground agonizingly. 

There was dirt in her mouth, gritty and oddly sweet. She spat it out and clambered to her feet half stunned. Someone was screaming very loudly. 

Instinct took over and she began moving away from the weapons fire again, expecting to be shot any second. 

_Where's the rest of the Marauder crew?_ She'd only seen two; there were always five in a crew.

She kept moving, breath coming in little gasps, teeth clenched against the pain of her abused body. The sky stretched overhead like an immense white bowl, curving down to meet the grass far on the horizon. She fixed her gaze on that hazy goal. _Move move move move movemovemovemove_

Behind her, the pulse blasts petered off. The screaming became gurgling and then silence. 

Complete silence. She kept moving. 

Something knocked her down from behind and she tripped face first into the grass. Arms wrapped around her as she went down and turned her so her fall was cushioned. 

Dazed, she looked down at the male commando laying beneath her. Up close his eyes were a startling shade of steel blue and there were laugh lines around his mouth. 

_Why would a commando have laugh lines?_ She thought dizzily.

Then he smiled at her, "Hello, daughter."

TBC  



	8. Redemption: Part 8

Untitled Document

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Dadelus Demands  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
_Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman., Intrepid Beta Reader. _  


Redemption: Part 8

Alaethe moved through the crowded auction room, a silent, grey-veiled figure amidst the sea of colorfully clad buyers. She was sweating under the veils; half-formed thoughts and images assaulted her mind in a wordless, whispering chorus of greed and lust. All her concentration was focused on maintaining a delicate balance between leaving herself open enough to discover what each buyer wanted and shielding herself against the oppressive miasma only she could see and feel. 

Now and again she stopped beside knots of customers, murmuring into her comms. Listening were Kelhvek's minions, who pulled the required slaves from the hold and readied them for the auction. This was the hateful duty the slaver had forced upon her when he discovered her enhanced senses. With her insight, he was able to provide his customers with exactly the "merchandise" they were looking for, making his auctions much more profitable than those of his competitors. 

No one touched her or spoke to her as she walked. She reached the far end of the auction room and started to turn back when she heard one word in her mind so clearly it was if someone had spoken directly in her ear. 

_Aeryn._

She froze. This was not supposed to be happening. She could not mindspeak another unless she was in physical contact with them. She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Cautiously, she stretched out her senses, searching

*****

_Where is she? I can't believe we came this far and she's not here, dammit! It's not going to end like this-- I'm not giving up, even if we have to turn this whole goddamn place inside out_! John thought viciously. 

He saw Crais looking at him out of the corner of his eye and snapped, "What?"

"There is no Sebecean on the sale list-"

"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean she won't show up on the block."

"Crichton is right. We should wait until the auction is over." D'Argo glared at Crais, who nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Okay, we stay till the end of the sale at least. She's got to be here somewhere." John chewed on his lip. _She's got to!_

"John Crichton."

He spun, startled by the soft voice at his elbow. "Wha?" 

The veiled form moved closer despite Crais' and D'Argo's hands on their weapons. "You are searching for Aeryn Sun."

"Who are you?" Crais demanded. "Where is she?"

"She is not here. Kelhvek has sent her to the Peacekeepers to collect the bounty on her head." 

"Oh shit," John breathed. 

"Wait a microt," D'Argo said. "Who are you and why should we believe you?"

**  
Alaethe could feel their doubt and she didn't blame them. Before any of them could move, she reached out and grabbed the arm of the one whose mind had so clearly spoken to her moments before. She knew she didn't have time to persuade them to listen to her; she would have to show them she was telling the truth. She swept the veil from her face with her free hand and locked eyes with the one called Crichton. 

**  
The alien moved so quickly John couldn't pull away. She had a vice-like grip on his arm before he knew it, removing the veil to reveal her face. He got the impression of skin like liquid metal, silvery and translucent at the same time, and fine-boned features reminding him eerily of storybook pictures of elves he'd seen as a kid. Then a voice both powerful and fragile filled his head. _I must you show this, JohnCrichton._

And he fell into her depthless eyes

*******

Chiana was bored. She was sitting on a chair in command, her feet up on one of the consoles. The chair was tilted back on two legs as she balanced precariously, nibbling on a food cube. 

She still couldn't believe that the others had gone off and left her and Jool alone on Moya. The whole excuse about it not being safe was all dren as far as she was concerned. After all, she'd been by herself long enough as a kid to learn how to take care of herself. And besides-

"Chiana!" 

The chair skittered out from under her, depositing her ungracefully on the floor. "Pilot, what the frell are you yelling about? I practically cracked my head open!"

"Sensors have picked up a Peacekeeper Marauder in this system." Pilot's voice was hitched up half an octave in his agitation. 

"Are they headed for us?" 

"No, it seems they are on a trajectory to the planet below Tesso3."

"Oh frell! Pilot, we need to get the guys out of there!" Chiana was immediately at the communications console, fingers flying. "Why isn't this thing working?" She shouted in frustration. 

"It seems we are out of comms range. We will have to move closer."

"Do it." Chiana leaned over the console, dark eyes fixed on the viewscreen as Moya moved out from behind the planet they had chosen as a hiding place. "Hurry, Pilot, please hurry!"

**********

The man who said he was her father helped her into the seat. She went compliantly and sat still as he buckled her in like a child. "We'll get you some medical attention as quickly as possible, but first we have to get off this planet before the real Marauder crew shows up." He smiled at her again. "Our ship looks like a Marauder to the people out here, but a Peacekeeper would see through the disguise in a microt."

_Would they? I didn't._ Aeryn thought to herself. She should have seen the differences right off. Maybe she was getting soft. 

The female commando walked in, shutting the outer hatch, "Talyn, we need to go."

He glanced down at the chrono on his wrist, "You're right. Go start the preflight, I'll be right there."

The other woman glanced at Aeryn, smiling shyly. "I'm Jaina Sekais, by the way."

Aeryn just stared at her. _No frelling way she would be a commando, look at how tiny she is. _When she didn't answer, Jaina shrugged, still smiling, "We'll have plenty of time to get acquainted later." She turned and went forward to the cockpit.

Talyn stowed the pulse rifles, then pulled out a field medkit and rummaged through it. "Ah, here it is..." he popped the seal on a pressure bandage and reached for Aeryn's shoulder. 

She couldn't help herself, she shrank away from his touch despite the brittle pain of her broken ribs. _Don't touch me. Don't._

A shadow flitted across his open face, "Is that how it went?" He asked softly into the silence. "Be easy, Aeryn. I won't hurt you..." slowly, as though he were dealing with a wild animal, he leaned forward to gently swab the pulseshot wound on her shoulder. "I wanted to get to you earlier, you know. I just couldn't think of a way to get on that slaver's freighter without being indentified..." he kept talking softly as he placed the pressure bandage on the wound. "It was Jaina who heard you'd been captured and were being turned in for the bounty. We knew this was our chance to get you."

Aeryn listened to his voice, not really hearing the words. His hands on her wound were gently competent as he sealed the bandage and stepped back. 

"Talyn, we have company. Looks like the Marauder, 2,000 metras and closing fast." Jaina said from the cockpit. The engines fired and she expertly lifted them off the planet surface. 

"Keep low so they don't scan us, and swing around to the back side before we head back to the base." He said over his shoulder. Quickly closing up the medkit, he gave Aeryn a reassuring look, "Don't worry. We do this all the time." 

And he winked at her.

**********

Lieutenant Commander Selkyn nudged the dead man's hand with the barrel of his pulse rifle and cursed. The smell of scorched flesh was strong this close; the man hadn't been dead for long. 

"This one's dead, too," Officer Livan said from the other side of the clearing. She strode over to where the Lieutenant stood, "Only the two of them."

"No sign of her in here," another commando said, exiting the shuttle. 

Selkyn turned in a slow circle, taking in the scene. It was so quiet all he could hear was the wind and the ticking of the Marauder's cooling engines. High in the sky the shapes of some airborne scavenger circled, waiting for them to leave. He suddenly felt uncomfortably exposed under all the white space above. 

Signaling to the others, he started back toward the Marauder, "Let's pay the slaver a visit."  


************ 

_Omigod, Aeryn_ John reeled back as the alien released his arm. After-images of what he'd seen in her eyes burned in his mind like the ghost fire left after staring at the sun too long. He clutched the edge of the table, heart pounding with vague, desperate rage. 

"Crichton, are you alright?" D'Argo demanded from behind him. 

"I-she-" John scrubbed at his face, trying to get the words out around the thickness in his throat. 

"What did you do to him?" Crais snapped, drawing his pulse pistol and pressing it the alien's side. 

She turned her gaze on him, "His mind is veryopen. I showed him what I have Seen."

"What the frell are you talking about?" D'Argo had moved to block the view of Crais' drawn weapon from prying eyes. So far no one seemed to have taken much notice of them, but he didn't want to take any chances. 

"Guys-" John collected his thoughts enough to try and make sense, "Wait, she didn't do anything to hurt me"

"That's not what it looked like to us," D'Argo rumbled.

"Put that away," John reached out and pushed Crais' pistol down, "She's telepathic or something-"

"A Singer." The alien interrupted. 

"Yeah, ok, a Singerwhatever. She's telepathic and she's not lying when she says she knows where Aeryn is."

Crais looked from the alien to John, clearly suspicious. "Crichton-"

"Put the damn gun away, Stubby!" Crais slowly holstered his weapon, clearly not happy about it, but at this point John didn't care. He turned back to the Singer, "What you showed me"

"It was what I Saw in Aeryn Sun." Her obsidian gaze seemed to soften, "I am sorry for it, but I did not have time to explain."

D'Argo glanced at John, "She's telling the truth?"

"Yeah." 

"When did they take her?" Crais asked as though he hadn't just threatened her with a pulse pistol. 

"Approximately six arns ago. They were to make the exchange on the planet below and return in time for the auction."

"It doesn't take six arns to get down to the planet surface and back," D'Argo said. "It would be more like half an arn there and half an arn back, unless something went wrong."

"What the hell could go wrong?" John asked wearily. "Everything is perfect, except for the fact that we're_ too damn late!_"

His voice had risen enough that a few other buyers turned to stare. Alaethe dropped her veil quickly, aware that she'd already spent far too long with them. "The two that Kelhvek sent with her have not yet come back. They would be here already. I know the coordinates of the meeting place-"

"John, D'Argo, you guys there?" A voice from John's comms interrupted. "Guys, you got problems!"

John cursed under his breath, "Chi, what's the matter with you? I thought we told you to--"

"Look, Pilot just picked up a Marauder. It was down on the planet, and now it's headed right for you guys. You better get the frell out of there!"

Crais' eyes unfocused for a moment and then he nodded, "Talyn confirms Moya's scans. A Marauder will arrive here in approximately a quarter arnWe must get back to Talyn before they discover him behind the moon." He spoke into his own comms badge, "Chiana, we will be leaving immediately and will meet Moya at the rendezvous point."

"Right, see you guys there." Chiana said and comms fell silent. 

"We can't just go!" John turned back to the Singer, "Look, you said you know where the exchange was gonna happen, we'll take you with us."

"John-" D'Argo started to say, but she cut him off.

"I can't leave-"

"Yes you can. We'll just beat feet out of here and you go with us. Who the hell's gonna stop us?" John turned to Crais, "Ok, Cap'n, here's your chance to play bad ass Peacekeeper. How quick do you think you could work up a panic in here?"

"Crichton, I don't think this is a good idea."

John moved fast, leaning over and grabbing the other man by the collar. "This is _my_ show, Crais. _Mine_. You got a better plan, speak up now or forever hold your peace." When he didn't reply, John released him, grinning wolfishly, "Right. This little lady says she knows the coordinates where the Marauder was supposed to pick up Aeryn-"

"How do we know she's not on the Marauder already?" D'Argo asked. He still didn't look convinced. 

"Wait" Crais got that far away look again, communicating with Talyn. Eventually his eyes refocused on John, "There are only five life signs on the Marauder. It carries a five man crew, so she must not be on board."

"'Kay, then. She's not on the Marauder, she may still be on the planet. They wouldn't be coming here unless they were still looking for her, right?"

"Possibly," Crais said slowly. "If something happened on the planet and they could not recover her there, it is likely they would come after the slaver to discover what he knows of her whereabouts."

"So elf-lady-"

"Alaethe is my name."

"Sorry- Alaethe- knows where they were supposed to pick her up. I say we take her with us, because she's our best bet to find a hot trail." John glanced around. The crowd seemed to be growing restless. "You know, none of these guys is going to be happy to hear a Marauder is headed this way..."

Crais met his gaze, "Take her to the transport. The Luxan and I will provide a...distraction." He gave D'Argo a tight-lipped smile.

John nodded and took the Singer by the arm, "C'mon, let's blow this taco stand." 

TBC...

  



	9. Redemption: Part 9

Untitled Document 

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Dadelus Demands  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Dadelus Demands. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
_Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman., Intrepid Beta Reader. _  


Redemption: Part 9

John moved through the crowd as quickly as he dared, one hand hovering near his pulse pistol and the other grasping the Singer. He spotted two pin-headed bouncers looking at him suspiciously and he dropped his hand from the alien's arm. He was just about to ask her if she knew of another way out of the auction room when all hell broke loose behind them. 

There was a splintering crash; someone started shrieking in a guttural tongue. The bouncers forgot all about him and the Singer and ran by them, practically knocking the little alien over in the process. John didn't even bother to look to see what was going on. The crowd-murmur was turning ugly and weapons started to appear in the hands/claws/appendages of others around him. 

"Come on!" He urged the Singer, striding to the doors. They made it out into the corridor without incident, but a group of heavily armed humanoids was headed right toward them. John pressed the Singer behind him and yelled at them, "Hey guys! You better hurry, I think there's some real bad dren hitting the fan in there. Some buyers arguing over who's gonna get the blue girl!" 

A volley of weapons fire from the auction room followed his words. The guards barely cast a look in his direction, breaking into a run to the doors. They were met by a group of buyers trying to get out and in the confusion John and the Singer slipped past. 

They'd only gone down the corridor a short way before a voice snarled from her comms, "Alaethe, where are you, you trelk?"

"Is that-" John turned to the Singer.

Alaethe nodded, "Kelhvek. He is no doubt looking for me." 

"Well he can keep looking." John glanced past her; the corridor was beginning to fill with buyers from the auction room. A spidery looking alien graced with head-high eye-stalks moved with incredible speed past them, legs a clicking blur. "We gotta jam. This place is gonna get a lot uglier if I know Crais and D'Argo."

Kelhvek's angry voice erupted from the Singer's comms again and John tore the badge off her, tossing it over his shoulder. He grabbed her arm and started running down the corridor. 

"Wait-" Alaethe struggled against his grip. 

"We don't have time to pick up souveniers, lady!" It sounded like the mother of all bar fights was going on back in the auction room, complete with breaking glass, shouting and general pandemonium. 

"No, I-" she pulled the veils away from around her shoulder and head, gesturing to a thick metal choker around her neck. "It's a control collar. If I don't go back, he'll-"

John was just about to tell her to worry about it later when she let out a blood-curdling shriek and fell to the ground shuddering. He looked down the hall and realized the trickle of departing buyers had turned into a flood. They were likely to be trampled if they didn't get out of the way. Spotting a small alcove, he gathered her thrashing body up and ducked out of the corridor. Choked whimpers escaped her clenched teeth as he laid her down. He reached for the control collar, _Gotta get this damn thing off-_

An agonizing moment later, he was picking himself up off the ground, every nerve in his body buzzing. "What the hell-" he started to crawl back to where she lay writhing when a shadow fell over him. 

"Crichton, what are you doing?" Crais pushed him out of the way and used his own weight to pin the Singer down. "Help me hold her or she may damage herself!" He snarled.

John managed to sit on her legs, "She's got a-"

"Control collar, I know! We need to incapacitate her," Crais said. "Once she is unconscious, the collar looses its affect." He turned to John, "Use your pistol- the back of the head or temple!"

"No way, I'm not gonna cold-cock her, we could kill her!"

"Crichton, there is no other way! We cannot get the collar off here, and we cannot carry her like this!"

Something hissed in the air between them and the Singer abruptly fell silent. "That should suffice," D'Argo said, looming over them. 

John slid off the woman's legs, "UhI hope that tongue trick doesn't do more than knock her out, big guy," 

"We will worry about that later. We need to get to the transport now." Crais said, standing. 

D'Argo picked the Singer up and slung her over one shoulder. John peered out into the corridor, which was now thick with bodies and occasional weapons fire. Who was shooting whom, he didn't know and he didn't really care. "Let's go," he said. 

********

Within a quarter arn, they had left the planet's surface and were speeding toward a destination Aeryn could only guess at. It was then that Talyn came back to where she sat. He began looking through a cari-sak on the floor, seemingly unconcerned that she hadn't said a word since they picked her up. 

Aeryn eventually broke the silence, "You're not my father."

Talyn glanced up from the device in his hand. "We'll know in a few microts if you're right," he said. 

Aeryn recognized the device as an identity scanner, the type that cross-referenced the Genetics Directorate's database. Every Peacekeeper's individual DNA code was stored in GenTech's records for security verifications, as well as to identify the dead and wounded after battle. 

He sat down in the seat next to her, "I've set it for a blood reading, so there's no mistake. I just put your specimen in," he gestured to one of the reddened bandages he'd swabbed her shoulder with earlier. "Here's your reading," he said, tilting the scanner so she could see the display:

OFFICER **AERYN SUN**: SERIAL NUMBER 5483761A52  
SPECIAL COMMANDO, PLEISAR REGIMENT, ICARIAN DIVISION  
_IN VIOLATION OF SECS. H5481 AND T98.12 OF MARTIAL JUSTICE CODE  
WANTED BY HIGH COMMAND ON THE CHARGES OF TREASON AND IRREVERSIBLE CONTAMINATION._

Aeryn stared at the screen for a long moment. She knew the charges against her, but to see them in bold letters was another thing altogether. The words cut her more sharply than she would have thought possible. 

"Strange isn't it, how the life you left behind can be summed up in so few words," Talyn said. His eyes met hers in silent understanding for a microt before he looked down at the screen. "My turn."

He drew a knife and quickly made a small wound on the tip of one finger, then pressed the cut to the specimen tray on the scanner. It gave a beep: 

SCANNING RECORDS

Absently, he wiped his finger off and sheathed the knife. The scanner beeped twice. He tilted the screen again and Aeryn's breath caught:

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER **TALYN SPERA**: SERIAL NUMBER 3864278K21   
_DECEASED_

"It's-that is--" Aeryn struggled to speak. She stared at him, wanting to believe and at the same time wanting _not_ to believe. "It's a trick! My father is dead!" 

"I wanted the Peacekeepers to think I was dead, Aeryn. They had to believe it because it was safer for me, and for you."

"No! This is all a lie!" Furious, she grabbed the scanner from him and threw it against the bulkhead. Hot tears welled up, blurring her vision. She fumbled with the straps of the safety harness, suddenly needing to be away--to be anywhere but here. "What right do you have to torture me like this? Why are you lying to me?" She cried past the thickness in her throat.

"Aeryn, stop it." He put strong hands over hers and she froze as she looked down. _Those are my hands_, she thought. They were bigger than hers, more masculine-- but the shape, the long fingers--the slightly crooked little finger identical to hers

She looked up at his face and suddenly recognized herself in the shape of his generous mouth and his mutable blue eyes, now dark with concern. _Oh Hezmana._ She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again, unsure of what she should say. 

"You may not believe it, Aeryn, but I am your father." He let go of her hands and went to pick up the scanner. "I had to run the identity check for your peace of mind as well as my own. I had to be sure you are my daughter."

"Wh-why?"

"Jaina and I are part of a resistance...an underground. We help those among the Peacekeepers who want to do more with their lives and skills than mindless killing." 

"A resistance?" Aeryn was trying to process what he was saying. For some reason, her mind was still stuck on _He's my father!_

"We call it aBeko."

"'The Changing?'"

He smiled at her, "I didn't know you understood old Sebecean. Where did you learn that?"

"I- I've been on a breakaway colony before." Aeryn said and let it go at that. It would be too difficult to explain all that had happened on the Royal Planet and she didn't have the patience for it right now. 

Talyn looked at her pensively, "I've followed your career as best I could from the beginning...But I know there's so much I've missed in your life. I hope you learn to trust me with that part of yourself."

Aeryn was saved from having to answer him when Jaina called from the pilot's seat, "Is everything all right back there?" 

"Of course," Talyn replied. 

"Right then. We're getting close." Jaina activated the comms, "Eano Mine Colony, this is Kanta Mar. Requesting permission to approach and dock."

"Kanta Mar, transmit verification codes."

Jaina keyed in a code and then answered, "Transmitting."

"Authenticated." The toneless voice became warmer, "Welcome back, Jai. Were you successful in procuring the package?"

Glancing back at Talyn and Aeryn, Jaina smiled, "Yes, very successful ...."

  
********

"We should go down to the planet now," John said. "If we go back to Talyn, it will take too long.".

Crais looked up from the display console, "Crichton, we are not going down there in the transport. It may be a trap."

"But Aeryn may down there, wounded or-" 

"John, he's right." D'Argo said. He made sure the still unconscious Singer was securely buckled into her seat and then came up behind them. "We have no defensive weapons, and I do not relish walking into what may be a Peacekeeper ambush unarmed." He glanced at the display, "Talyn is less than an arn away. We can come back and scan the planet from a safe distance. If she is there, we will find her, I promise you."

"I still think we should-" 

"What is that?" D'Argo interrupted, pointing over Crais' shoulder at something on the display.

Crais brought up a rear view of Tesso3. Kelhvek's ship was undocking, apparently without first disengaging from the station's superstructure. Myriad lines providing power, life support and fuel stretched to their limit and then broke as the freighter strained free. Atmosphere and fuel sprayed into vacuum. The last third of the docking umbilicus was snapped off with a soundless explosion and hung raggedly from the underside of the ship as it began accelerating away from the station.

"What the hell is he doing?" John asked, incredulous. 

"He is going to try to outrun the Marauder," Crais said grimly. "He will not make it, but it will serve as a distraction for us." 

"There's the Marauder," D'Argo said. A small dark shape flitted from behind the station, homing in on the fleeing freighter and quickly landing on the larger ship's hull. 

"They are going to force dock. The crew will use explosives to breach the hull, then invade the ship and complete their mission." Crais' brows drew together as he spoke. "That is not the usual procedure for a single Marauder..."

"Get us out of here Crais!" D'Argo suddenly hissed. They all saw it at the same time: a fully armed Reaver, complete with two Marauder escorts, was speeding toward Tesso3 with deadly intention. Instead of slowing as it entered the station's proscribed airspace, the Reaver fired on whatever hapless craft happened to be in the way, destroying them. Station security had belatedly scrambled several patrol craft after the freighter's precipitous undocking, but the small ships were no match for the Marauder escorts, much less the Reaver itself. After seeing several of their compatriots blown to smithereens, the remaining patrol craft began fleeing back to the dubious safety of the station. 

"Christ, I thought there weren't any Peacekeeper forces out here!" John threw Crais a look.

"There are no established bases in this sector," he retorted, hands working quickly over the flight controls. "But I should have expected more than one Marauder. The Reaver was probably the closest ship and was sent to make sure the mission was accomplished."

"Peacekeepers are nothing, if not thorough." added D'Argo, his eyes fixed on the viewscreen.

John watched with fascinated horror as the Reaver easily overtook Kelhvek's freighter, firing on its engines. They went with a bright flash and the freighter slowed, listing slightly. It fired back, getting in one or two hits before the Reaver reduced its guns to slag. The two Marauders darted in and out, finally landing on the freighter's hull like the first Marauder had. "What will they do when they find out Aeryn's not on the ship?"

Crais glanced up at him, "Destroy it of course. Peacekeepers do not allow slavery-"

D'Argo snorted, "Unless it benefits them."

Crais shot the Luxan a look, then continued, "Kelhvek will be killed and his ship destroyed." 

The three of them fell silent. Kelhvek's ship was beginning to list as though nav-control had been lost. An explosion flared brightly from amidships and the whole freighter suddenly shuddered. Another explosion, closer to the engines, and one of the Marauders disengaged itself to hover nearby. Several hundred microts later, the other two Marauders broke free of the larger ship, which had obviously begun its death throes. The freighter's lights dimmed, flickered and then went out.

"Hull breach." Crais said flatly. John saw it a second later: near one of the two engines, the hull was beginning to buckle where it had been weakened by the Reaver's earlier attack. There was a moment where he thought it might hold, but then the metal peeled back like the skin of a banana, and atmosphere and debris fountained out into space. 

"Oh man, there are people on that ship who aren't part of the slaver's crew!" John turned to Crais, "What about them? They're innocent!"

The ex-Peacekeeper captain didn't answer. John looked back in time to see the Reaver firing on the freighter with all guns. The ship's engines imploded in a brilliant flare of white light. 

Before anyone could say anything else, Crais changed the display to a forward view, his movements short and angry. "We go_ now._"

TBC  


  


  



	10. Redemption: Part 10

Untitled Document 

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Icarus Abides. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
_Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman., Intrepid Beta Reader. _  


Redemption: Part 10

"Do think you can walk? It's not far." Jaina hefted a cari-sak over one shoulder, eyeing Aeryn. Talyn had gone to the required debriefing, leaving Jaina to escort her to the medical facilities. 

"I'm fine." Aeryn lied. She hadn't eaten in over 20 arns. She'd been assaulted, beaten, shot, and most shocking of all, recently learned her father was alive after cycles of believing him dead. Her head felt fuzzy, her whole body ached and nothing sounded as good as just lying down and sleeping for a long, long time. But despite everything, she shook off the other woman's offer of help and stepped out of the ship on her own two legs. 

They slowly made their way out of the docking bay, Jaina keeping up a running commentary Aeryn only half listened to. "Eano actually was a mining colony fifty or sixty cycles ago, but by the time we found it, it had been abandoned and was in pretty bad repair. Most of the work to make it habitable again was done before I arrived three cycles ago. Now we do just enough mining to make a small profit and keep our cover...."

Aeryn nodded absently, more focused on putting one foot in front of the other than anything Jaina was saying. Once they were out of the docking bay proper, the walls had become rough-hewn rock. The slightly downward sloping floor was paved with textured plascrete and overhead lights hung from the low ceiling. They passed a handful of people in the corridor. Each of them greeted Jaina cheerfully and then looked curiously at Aeryn. Thankfully, it was a fairly short walk; Jaina soon drew up before a door clearly marked as the medbay. 

"Here we are." She gestured for Aeryn to precede her. The medbay was like all the others Aeryn had seen as a Peacekeeper: sterile, well lit and manned by two male medtechs who immediately descended on her with bustling efficiency. It was all so familiar, she relaxed completely and let them guide her to a scanbed. She lay down and closed her eyes against the light. Exhaustion was making her lightheaded. It was such a relief to be still....  


One of the medtechs began methodically undressing her so they could perform the diagnostic scan. His hands on her body made her stomach tighten; her heart seemed to skip a beat and she was suddenly choking with panic and remembered fear. "Get off me!" She snapped at him, sitting up and batting his hands away. 

"Calm down, Aeryn," Jaina stepped forward, "They've got to do the scan-"

"I don't need a frelling scan to tell me what's wrong!" Aeryn glared at the techs, who had the common sense to back off. She knew she was being unreasonable and that they were just trying to help her, but she couldn't help herself. 

"Here, what's the problem?" A woman, dressed in the long green overcoat of a Medical Officer, strode into the room. She took in the scene and immediately dismissed the two medtechs before turning back to Aeryn. "I am Ithani Mekelia, chief Healer. You are-?" Her brows rose inquiringly over soft brown eyes. 

"Aeryn Sun," Jaina supplied. 

Ithani glanced sharply at her and then back at Aeryn. "I see." 

"I don't need to be here," Aeryn said. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and started to stand, fully intending to leave. "I just need to lie down for a bit--"

"Easy, girl!" Ithani and Jaina each grabbed an arm as she started to collapse. They helped her back onto the bed, Ithani pushing her down with gently insistent hands. "What you _need_ is to undergo a diagnostic scan and let us care for you."

Aeryn's head was spinning so badly she didn't argue; she simply lay there and let the other woman undress her. Covering her with a blanket, Ithani began working on the console at the foot of the bed. "Jaina, you go on. Thank you for the help, but I'm sure you're tired." She said. 

Jaina smiled wearily, "Are you sure you don't need me?"

"Go on," Ithani insisted, waving her off. "I can handle this."

"Take care, Aeryn," Jaina said, heading for the door. 

Ithani watched her go and then turned back to the console, humming a tune under her breath. She spent a few microts reading the display before going to one of the cabinets lining the walls. After gathering some supplies on a tray, she came back to the head of the bed. "Well, it's been some time since I've seen a pulseshot wound," she said. "I'll give you something for the pain in a microt, but I've got to look it over while you're still conscious."

"Get on with it." Aeryn said hoarsely. 

Ithani gave her a small smile, "You don't need to show Peacekeeper stoicism to me." Her hands moved deftly at Aeryn's shoulder. "It must be bred into all of you..."

Aeryn was trying not to focus on the wet sound of the pressure bandage being removed and it took a moment for the other woman's words to sink in. "What?"

"All you Peacekeepers are alike. You think showing weakness is a vulnerability, something to be hidden so others can't take advantage of you."

"You're a Medical Officer, but you're still a Peacekeeper," Aeryn said, her attention completely on Ithani.

"Just because I'm here, doesn't mean I'm a Peacekeeper." She replied. "I'm not a Medical Officer, I'm a Healer. And I've never been one of you."

Aeryn tried to digest her words, a task made more difficult by her fatigued mind. "I don't understand--"

Ithani paused for a moment to capture her gaze, "I'm free-born. Never been on a PK ship, never had any training, never killed anyone...not that the thought hasn't crossed my mind!" And she bent back to her work. 

"How-" Aeryn winced and the other woman murmured an apology, "If you were born on one of the breakaway colonies, how did you end up _here_?"

"Oh, I was young and silly and fell in love with one of your compatriots. He persuaded me to go with him when he left my homeworld, and I was foolish enough to follow him." Ithani replied. She seemed satisfied with the temporary repairs she'd made to Aeryn's shoulder and straightened, patting her arm. "I'll get you those pain meds now, Aeryn. I'm going to sedate you for a bit. You need to spend some time in the revitalizer to allow your body to heal." She went to rummage in another cabinet. 

Aeryn only nodded, still mulling over what the Healer had said. _Maybe...maybe there's a place out there for someone like me. _It was her secret hope, a wish she'd carried with her for the past three and a half cycles: that she could find a place to fit in. A place where others wouldn't look at her with fear or loathing; where they wouldn't ask her if she was a Peacekeeper. She had thought she'd found that place with John, who'd understood her longing when Namtar frelled with her DNA so long ago...John, who never looked at her with anything other than acceptance...

"How are you feeling, Aeryn?" Talyn's voice cut through her train of thought and she glanced up, quickly pressing tears from her eyes. He approached, concerned, "Are you in pain? Where's Tani?"

"Here," Ithani said, closing the cabinet door and coming back to where her patient lay. She checked the readout and began measuring the hypo dosage. 

Talyn glanced back down at Aeryn, "A few days in the revitalizer and you will be as good as new."

"So I've told her." Ithani put in.

He rolled his eyes at the Healer, "I hope she hasn't been telling you tales about me," he said to Aeryn. When she looked uncomprehendingly at him, he raised his brows at Ithani, "Haven't you told her?"

The other woman shook her head, "She's been through a lot in the last couple of days, Talyn. I thought the news might wait."

Aeryn looked from one to the other and sighed, "I'm not unconscious yet, you know. Will someone tell me what is going on?"

Talyn seemed hesitant, then gave Aeryn a bemused smile. "Tani is my wife."

************

"Finally!" D'Argo stood, brandishing the control collar so both John and Crais could see it. "I thought I'd never get this frelling thing off."

"What'd you use, big guy?" John asked, examining it from a safe distance. His one and only experience with the collar had been more than enough to keep him from touching it.

"It's harmless now, Crichton. As soon as the slaver's ship was destroyed, the activation signal was cut off." Crais informed him and went back to reading the medical console. 

D'Argo proffered the collar to John, who shook his head. "No thanks."

"I was able to get it off with these," the Luxan said, holding up a large instrument John instantly recognized.

"Huh, bolt cutters must be a universal tool," he said. D'Argo shrugged, hefting the cutters onto a clear counter top and then tossing the control collar into a refuse bin. 

"Her life signs seem to be normal," Crais said, studying the display over the Singer's head. "Of course, I am not sure what the nominal readings are for her species."

"Great. So you don't know if she's coming around or if D'Argo's tongue thing is gonna kill her." John said.

Crais gave him a long-suffering look, "I never claimed to be a medical officer, Crichton. And if the venom was lethal to her kind, she would most likely be dead already. Her life signs have stayed constant since we came aboard Talyn."

"Well, she doesn't look like she's going to wake soon," John retorted. "Let's head back to the planet and check it out. We've wasted enough time already." He started off to Command, "I'll send Stark down to monitor her."

"Wait-" Crais' fingers worked quickly on the medical console. "She seems to be regaining consciousness."

John came back into the medical bay and glanced at the display. He didn't have much experience with the med-scanner, but it looked like Crais was right. The Singer stirred slightly on the bed and made a soft sound of protest. John put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance, "Hey, you're safe, you're alright, Alaethe." 

Her huge black eyes opened slowly, focusing on him, "John Crichton."

"Yeah, that's me," John helped her sit up slowly. She seemed dazed, but none the worse for the wear. 

"Drink this," Crais offered her a container of liquid. "It should help your body recover from the affects of the venom."

Reaching for the beaker, her fingers brushed against his and she jerked back violently, "Bialar Crais!" 

John's brows came together and he met the other man's gaze questioningly, "Did you--"

"None of us said his name on the station. How did you know?" D'Argo asked the Singer. 

"You are--" Alaethe swung her gaze at him, "--Ka D'Argo." Closing her eyes, she continued, "And there are others....I sense them..." She shiver, hand going to her neck in sudden realization. "The collar is gone?"

"Yeah, we figured you didn't want to keep wearing it." John told her.

"I thank you for the kindness, and I am in your debt."

"How do you know who I am?" Crais asked warily. 

"My people call themselves the Ka'rhau; we are a peaceful, space-faring species. Some of us are gifted with the ability to See what is in the minds of other beings when we touch them. We are called Singers. That is how I learned your names- you, John Crichton, touched me and I Saw the names of these others."

"Umm....just how much can you find out from just touching someone?" John asked nervously. He wasn't sure he liked her ability to peek in on his thoughts whenever he bumped into her. It could prove mighty inconvenient, not to mention embarrassing. 

"Do not be anxious. I am prohibited from touching the minds of those who do not wish it. My gifts are to be used only to heal and make whole. I ask your pardon for intruding upon you....I was still somewhat befuddled. I will not act in such a manner again unless you request it."

"Apology accepted. No offense, but can we save the small talk for later? How about you tell us where they were going to pick up Aeryn, so we can head back there and you can get some rest."

Alaethe nodded and rattled off the coordinates. She seemed to be fading a bit: her skin seemed even more translucent than it was just moments before and the hand holding the beaker of liquid was shaking slightly. 

John hardly noticed. He more focused on getting back the planet in time. The longer they waited, the more likely something would happen to Aeryn. He was afraid that if they took too long to get back, whatever trail she'd left would be so cold they wouldn't be able to follow it. _I won't even think about that right now. We will find her._

He started to the door, "Let's go, Stubby. D'Argo, you mind staying down here for a few microts till we send Stark?"

"Do it quickly. I am not a nursemaid." The Luxan reminded him.

"Yeah big guy, I know how great your bedside manner is." John said over his shoulder. 

Crais caught up to him in the corridor, matching him stride for stride. The ex-PK glanced at him, "This is foolhardy, Crichton. We do not know if the Reaver has left the system. They may still be laying in wait for us."

John fought down the urge to punch him just to shut him up. "Talyn's got guns, we can deal with the Reaver and whoever else shows up. Or are you telling me you aren't going to back me on this one, Crais?" He snapped, stopping suddenly and turning to the other man. "Are you saying you don't think Aeryn's worth putting your butt on the line? Is that it?"

Crais faced him, infuriatingly calm as always. "I must always account for Talyn. Whether you believe it or not, I have committed myself to protecting and guiding him as a parent would a child. His kind live for over 300 cycles; it would be dishonorable to put him at risk if there are other alternatives."

"Omigawd, you talk about _honor_?" John was incredulous. "You chased me all over the damn galaxy because you wouldn't admit you were wrong, even when you knew I was telling the truth! God only knows how many innocent people you've killed, Crais, and all the evil things you've done. You could write a book on backstabbing!"

"Crichton." Crais suddenly seemed weary; his shoulders sagged and he rubbed his forehead with one hand before meeting John's angry eyes. "I cannot help what I was before. It shames me to look back at the things I have done, but I cannot change the past. 

"Tauvo's death...He was my little brother. I protected him and sheltered him and when you struck him and he died...I went mad for a long time. I had lost something and I did not find it again until I shared the Hand of Friendship with Talyn. I cannot excuse the pain I have caused you; I cannot make living again those I killed under orders even when I knew it was wrong; I cannot make right all the dishonorable things I have done. But I have pledged to guide Talyn to peace in an effort to repay my moral debts. I cannot change my past, but I can make my and Talyn's future full of honor."

John was momentarily stunned. He'd always looked at Crais the same way he'd looked at a pitbull: warily and waiting for the damn thing to bite him when his back was turned. It was Crais' fault he'd ended up on Moya in the first place, and if Crais hadn't lit up the whole Peacekeeper chain of command by chasing him all over the place, Scorpy probably never would have heard of him. There never would have been an Aurora Chair, or a neural chip, or Harvey. 

Then again, he never would have met Aeryn, or Zhaan, or D'Argo, or Chi... _And who knows where I would have ended up? Probably drifted in space till I starved to death, or crash landed on the nearest rock with gravity. I might be dead by now._ Maybe the man was truly turning over a new leaf...He'd kept his word as far as Talyn was concerned, even if he did have his own agenda. For a fleeting moment, John had a weird vision of Crais and the Other John hanging out and knocking back a couple of raslaks.

"I am telling you this because I want you understand that I am not your enemy, Crichton. I agree with you: Aeryn must be found and quickly. Every moment we delay lessens our chance of discovering her whereabouts. However, let us act without taking unnecessary risks. Can we agree on that?"

John shrugged, "Yeah." He was willing to give the other man the benefit of the doubt, at least for as long as it took to find Aeryn. After that...

"Excellent. Let us contact Moya and inform them of our plans."

"Sounds good." John agreed and they both headed toward Command again. _Maybe Crais is telling the truth for once, _he thought. _A lot of weirder things have been known to happen in the UTs..._

TBC...

**************

  


  



	11. Redemption: Part 11

Title: Redemption  
Author: Banshae, 2001  
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)  
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!  
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides  
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.   
Summary: Takes place after IP: Icarus Abides. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.   
_Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman, Intrepid Beta Reader. _  


Redemption: Part 11

Part 11

"Better, better, better, oh you're feeling better. Good, good!"

Alaethe slid slowly off the bed and smiled at the one called Stark. "Yes, I am much better, thank you." She took a couple of experimental steps toward the center of the room and was gratified to feel her strength returning. Stark followed a few paces behind her, his voice a steady murmur she found oddly encouraging. 

She stopped walking after a few circuits of the room. Stark almost trod on her heels, then caught his balance, "Oh sorry sorry! Must watch where we walk, sorry, sorry!" Then he seemed to forget he was supposed to be watching her, because he wandered slowly out into the corridor, hugging himself and muttering. 

Finding herself alone, Alaethe took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Now was a good time to discover more about her situation. The three who had taken her from Kelhvek's grasp did not seem to want to harm her, but she needed to be sure. 

Carefully, she lowered her mental defenses, ready to snap them back up in an instant if need be. She was immediately immersed in the sound of the universe around her. Every living creature had its own distinctive note. Some were gentle, others strident. There were darkly insistent sounds and blindingly bright sounds. The notes blended together in a cacophony played out against the all-encompassing hum of the life energy of the universe itself. 

She let the glorious Song of Life wash over and through her, filling all her senses. Her physical body was forgotten; she existed only as a single note among a multitude of others. Only a lifetime of training allowed her to maintain a sense of _self_, though there was always the danger that she would lose herself in the Song. Less skilled Singers had reveled in the Song for too long, allowing their bodies to waste away and die. Centering on that danger, she held tightly to her own uniqueness even as she narrowed her focus to the area immediately surrounding her physical self. Concentrating, she began to tease the threads of individual sounds from the greater voice of the Song: 

_A brightly drumming baritone note of deep red laced with yellow strength not yet tempered by age the blazing blue of loyalty Ka D'Argo_

_An insistent yellow-green note overlaid with the deep blue wisdom gained by many cycles of living greediness, but no evil in it a soft blue haze of loyalty Dominar Rygel_

_A blaze of almost blinding white and the gentle blue-green of healing the note was discordant and bleakly grey with loneliness Stark_

_Another note tinged with grey also softly, trustingly green blazing blue as well the sound tasted odd and she recognized it immediately John Crichton_

_A martial, deep reddish brown overlaid with a golden sheen the note was strangely doubled youth and age a dichotomy of old, black rage and newer, bluer loyalty Bialar Crais?_

Alaethe moved blindly forward, her hands unerringly homing in on a curved wall. She cried out and bit her lip without feeling it, her whole body thrumming with a doubled note of bright gold and crimson. The sound was so strong it drowned out the others, the colors so incandescent her senses were dazzled. Reaching toward the fire, she called out with her mind:

_Who are you?_

******

  
"Holy crap."

Crais glanced away from the destruction on the viewscreen, "The Reaver seems to have left the system. Tayln's sensors do not pick up any Peacekpeeper ships within range."

"Why the hell would they stick around? Everything's been blown to smithereens already." John stared at the screen, a sick knot of fear settling in his stomach. The viewscreen showed Tesso3or rather, what was left of Tesso3. The Reaver had destroyed more than half the station, including both docking rings. Debris was everywhere, most of it totally unrecognizable. The station was completely dark but for emergency lights flickering intermittently in the core. "How many people were on that station?"

"Not very many any more." Rygel said flatly. "Frelling Peacekeepers."

"They still have life support," Crais pointed out. "There are also emergency shuttles attached to the core and the rest of the docking rings. They are broadcasting a distress signal on all frequencies; rescue and repair crews will be arriving shortly."

"Are we close enough to scan the coordinates on the planet?" John asked, moving closer. 

"Yes" Crais' hands worked over the console, entering the information. "Talyn, scan these coordinates for Officer Sun's life signs. Use a cascading decca search pattern and provide us with a view on the screen."

Talyn burbled in reply. In moments, the viewscreen held an image of the exchange site. From orbit, it was a huge flat area ringed on all sides by small hills. 

"Magnify." Crais told the Leviathan. The hills became mountains, the flat area a blue-green ocean.

"Is that water?" John asked.

Crais shook his head, "No, according to the sensors it is a very thick landmass, covered with native vegetation. Magnify again, Talyn."

John sucked in a breath. Now they could clearly see a small transport, surrounded by a scorched ring of matted grass. There was more crushed vegetation, in the vague shape of a ship, only a short distance away. Two smaller, darker shapes were scattered around the shuttle. 

"Magnify."

The dark shapes resolved into bodies. John's heart pounded painfully for a moment before he realized both bodies had pale hair; neither of them were Aeryn. Someone or something had run away from where both ships had landed, crushing the grass into a short path which ended abruptly not far from the clearing. 

John clenched his hands in frustration. He knew what Crais was going to say and wasn't surprised when the ex-Peackeeper turned to him, "Talyn does not find any Sebecean life signs within a 10,000 metra radius of these coordinates."

"Can we get an energy signature at all?" D'Argo asked when John remained silent and staring at the viewscreen.

"The sensors read multiple signatures, but none large enough to be a sentient being, and none are Sebecean." Crais said. His brows drew together as he assimilated the data Talyn was relaying. "However, it seems that there have been three ships in this area in a short period of time."

"Three?" John turned to him. "One's down there right now: the slaver's transport with his dead crew. It looks like another one landed right there-" he pointed "-that's most likely the Marauder. Who's the third guy?"

"Strange. Talyn senses the engine signature of a Marauder, but he also says another ship of non-Peacekeeper design was in this area. However, he cannot identify the ship's engines in his data banks."

"Right then, Aeryn's not on the planet with the dead slavers," Rygel held up a hand and ticked off one finger. "The Marauder was here, but left-" Another finger. "Presumably without Aeryn aboard, because they attacked the space station. If they'd gotten her, they would have taken her directly back to a command carrier and not called in the Reaver-" A third finger. "And another ship has been down there at some point-" He put out his thumb and looked at the others triumphantly. "It would be safe to assume someone else has taken Aeryn, yes? Someone who got here _before_ the Marauder. They killed the slavers because they had no intention of paying the bounty, and they took her. The Marauder arrived, found her gone and went to the station to discover her whereabouts. 

"So, since it's unlikely Aeryn is anywhere on the planet or in the immediate vicinity, I say we leave this system as quickly as possible. Before the Reaver returns!" Rygel finished.

"Shut up, Guido." John snapped.

"Wait," D'Argo looked apologetic, but continued, "The Hynerian slug is likely right about most of it, John."

John held up his hands and shook his head, "I'll buy the third party snagging her if you can give me a reason someone would risk pissing off the Peacekeepers like that. It just doesn't make sense!"

"A competitor of Kelhvek's?" Rygel offered. John shot him a glare and he subsided into grumbling.

"Can we trace the signature of the third ship?" John asked, turning to Crais. 

"Talyn says the ship must have some type of stealthing tech. He cannot trace it past the planet's atmosphere."

John was about to open his mouth again when the deck under his feet shivered. "What was the hell was that?" He asked, turning to Crais. "Is it the Reaver again?"

Crais looked perplexed; he put one hand up to implant at the nape of his neck, "I don't know- Talyn?" The lights flashed and there was a series of chirps in answer. "_What?_"

"What the Hezmana is going on, Crais?" D'Argo demanded. 

"Talyn is-communicating with another," the ex-Peacekeeper's glare focused on John, "It's that frelling Singer you insisted we bring aboard!"

"Why are you guys always blaming this crap on me?" John snapped back.

"Because your ideas always get us into trouble like this," D'Argo retorted. He grabbed John and propelled him toward the door. "Come. It was your idea to bring her with us, so you can help me take care of this little problem."

"Try tracing that signal!" John shouted over his shoulder as he was manhandled out of Talyn's Command.   


  
TBC... 


End file.
